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Category Archives: Biomass
Vaclav Smil on wood
[ I’ve extracted bits about wood from Smil’s book about materials below, read the book for the larger context. Enormous amounts of wood were used in former civilizations with much smaller populations than today, so it’s clear we can’t go … Continue reading
Overview of the renewable fuel standard, U.S. House hearing 2013
House 113-61. June 26, 2013. Overview of the renewable fuel standard: Government perspectives. House of Representatives. [Excerpts from the 104 page transcript follow] Key points: The implicit premise that cellulosic and other advanced biofuels would be available in significant quantities … Continue reading
Posted in Renewable fuel standard RFS, Transportation
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Peak soil: Industrial agriculture destroys ecosystems and civilizations. Biofuels make it worse.
Alice Friedemann. 2017. Peak Soil. Last update Oct 23, 2017, first 2007 [ Formerly titled: Why Biofuels are Not Sustainable and a Threat to America’s National Security. Shorter versions appear in the following books: Jacqueline Langwith, ed. 2008. “Opposing Viewpoints: Renewable … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Biofuels, Biomass, Energy, Peak Biofuels, Soil, Soil
Tagged aquifer depletion, biodiesel, biofuel, climate change, EROEI, EROI, erosion, ethanol, fertilizer, hunger, peak soil, pollution, topsoil
2 Comments
Robert Rapier on why “fuel from CO2” breakthrough won’t work
Robert Rapier. Oct 27, 2016. Ethanol From Carbon Dioxide Is Still A Losing Proposition. energytrendinsider.com If I told you that I had created a process to extract pure gold from seawater, you might deem it an amazing accomplishment. If I … Continue reading
Posted in Biofuels, Biomass EROI, Critical Thinking, Far Out, Other Experts
Tagged critical thinking, EROEI, ethanol
2 Comments
Steam powered farm tractors
[ Steam engines weren’t very efficient, 10 to 20% at best, which is why they went away beginning around 1920 when oil-powered engines came along. At the very best steam engines for transportation reached 10 to 20% efficiency. They were … Continue reading
Posted in Biomass-powered Steam Engines
Tagged agriculture, biomass, steam power, tractor, wood
6 Comments
Why studies come up with different Energy Returned on Invest (EROI) results: can it be fixed?
[ There are many issues with biofuels beyond their trivial to negative energy return on investment (EROI). In Peak Soil I point out that current industrial farming techniques are destroying topsoil about 15 times faster than pre-fossil fuel economies — … Continue reading
Posted in Biofuels, Biomass EROI, Charles A. S. Hall
Tagged biomass, EROEI, EROI, ethanol
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How burning biomass made us human
[ This is a book review of Wrangham’s “Catching Fire: How cooking made us human”. Fire enabled us to have larger brains from the increased calories in cooked food, held carnivores at bay, killed bacteria, and gave us many other … Continue reading
Are biofuels a sustainable and viable energy strategy?
[In 2000, Melanie Kenderine at the U.S. Department of energy stated that: “This nation has abundant biomass resources (grasses, trees, agricultural wastes) that have the potential to provide power, fuels, chemicals and other bio-based products” (136). That’s a good point … Continue reading
Posted in Biofuels, EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested
Tagged biofuel, EROEI, EROI, net energy, subsidies
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National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap, Department of Energy
[ This is the best document of the many I’ve read. If my post Dozens of reasons why the world doesn’t run on algal biofuels didn’t convince you that the scientists are NOT likely to come up with something, get … Continue reading
Effects of biodiesel on diesel engines: John Deere
[ Since petroleum is finite, the most important focus of U.S. energy research ought to be keeping trucks operating, since civilization ends when trucks stop running. Ideally this would be done with a “drop-in” fuel that can be burned in … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiesel, Trucks
Tagged biodiesel, diesel engine, John Deere
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